Clearing, the UCAS process of matching students without university places to universities with vacancies, helps thousands of A level students get into university every year. For many students it’s a second chance at getting into university that academic year, without needing to take a gap year or resit exams.
Officially opening on A level results day, you’ll be eligible for Clearing 2024 if:
- You applied for university after 30th June 2024
- You haven’t yet applied for university
- You haven’t met the conditions of your firm or insurance choice offer
- You haven’t been made any offers
- You have declined all of your offers or didn’t respond by the deadline date
If you’re eligible then it will show up on your UCAS Track page, along with your Clearing number, which you’ll need to give to universities so that they can access your application.
Once Clearing 2024 opens you have until 21 September 2024 to complete an application and Clearing officially closes on 17 October 2024.
University Clearing can be a highly competitive process, particularly if you’re applying for a popular course or university, but don’t let that put you off.
Here is our secret to securing a place during university Clearing 2024:
Get ahead of the game
If you think you’ll be entered into Clearing then it pays to get a head start on the process and put together a list of potential universities and courses that you’re interested in before you get your A level results.
Make notes on why each university and course interests you. The university Clearing team will want to know why you’ve chosen their university – you can’t just say because you haven’t been accepted anywhere else!
It’s worth considering similar courses to the ones you’ve already applied for, rather than sticking to exactly the same subjects. You might also have to compromise on things such as location. Try to be as open minded as possible when writing your list of possible universities.
You should also make sure you have all of the documents and university phone numbers you’ll need ready. The number one secret to being successful during university Clearing 2022 is to be prepared.
Remember, although you have until 21 September to complete an application the most popular vacancies are usually taken within a week of Clearing opening, so you’ll need to move fast.
When you speak to the university admissions team be clear about why you want to go to that university, why you want to study the course, and what makes you the right student for them. Don’t forget to sell yourself to the admissions team. It might help you to have your personal statement in front of you when you call and jot down some of your recent achievements, both academic and extracurricular.
Clearing 2024 doesn’t have to be a stressful process, just keep calm and get organised so that you can hit the ground running as soon as the phone lines open. Good luck!
